The current eurozone debt crisis has had greater success in cooling the hot private residential market in Singapore than a series of anti-speculative measures or the recent announcement of the government to release a bumper supply of state land for sale to meet the demand.
Show flats and previews, which have resembled crowded scenes during a sale, have grown quiet because many property developers in the country have delayed their project launches. However, there is no denying that market confidence in Singapore is suffering from a huge dent.
Compared to a very positive April, feedback from many real estate agents described May as a total washout.
One property agent, who closed six deals in the secondary market in April, drew zero for the whole month of May. Agents said that some of their colleagues, who normally guard their ongoing deals fiercely, are now willing to co-broke.
Apartment owners are now getting more unsolicited calls asking them if they are willing to sell their units, especially those who bought their properties over the last six months. For them, the scare tactics of some property agents begin.
Property owners, particularly those who are known to be active sellers, are urged to sell their properties before the property market begins to cool down. The “scare-tactics” move by most property agents are taking effect, giving the jitters to several owners.
It is a nervous property market now in Singapore, especially for those who are highly geared. But amid the “scare tactic” moves by property agents, real estate developers are continuously bidding for higher prices for land sites.
In the most recent public tender, a 99-year leasehold condo site located at Upper Serangoon Road near to the Potong Pasir MRT station had received the second highest bid ever recorded in Singapore’s Rest of Central region.
This trend can only mean two things, either property developers have a different view on the market condition or they are just confident that they can transfer ownership of the units to investors before the price correction in the market takes place.
Either way, this does not sound good for genuine homebuyers.
If the property market remains down in May and June, prices cannot come down in the second quarter due to very low sales. At most, property prices will remain at a level seen in April.